SCI-MARK
FIRST OF ITS KIND Covers of the first (left) and second (right) issues of the Scientific Marksman. Rothkrug wanted to be able to share his passion for science with others.
A scientific Marksman Seeing an interest in and need for a science-based student publication, Alex Rothkrug ‘12 decided to create his own.
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March 11, 2021
The ReMarker
Discoveries
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he ReMarker student newspaper was founded in 1933. Marksmen yearbook began in 1959. The Marque got its start in 1962. For decades, student publications have been a major facet of school life. So, to Alex Rothkrug ‘12, it was astonishing that despite the school’s focus on a diversity of academic subjects, the school did not produce a sciencecentered student publication. In 2010, he decided to start his own — and the Scientific Marksman was born. When he was in high school, Rothkrug spent his afternoons at Barnes and Noble reading up on the latest publications. “I would always enjoy reading weekly science news, science journals and other science publications,” Rothkrug said. “I realized pretty early during high school that I wanted to be a medical doctor, so I was pretty passionate about science and especially biology.” He knew that other publications on campus already had a solid track record of national recognition, including the ReMarker and the Marque. He knew he didn’t have the experience in design or journalistic writing that his peers had, so he was hesitant. “Admittedly, I never thought of myself as having an interest in or an innate talent for the subjective literary arts, but science was objective and made sense to me,” Rothkrug said. “I still believed there was a special place for something that would create a platform for exchanging knowledge and inspiration
that would connect with and engage science nerds like me and others who eventually helped create the first edition of the SciMark.” Having researched topics and looked into designs, Rothkrug started a staff. “Funnily enough, several people who initially doubted the SciMark eventually became writers and editors for it,” he said. “If you have enough conviction in Rothkrug and confidence in your ability to create and execute, and you put in the work upfront, others will eventually be excited about it too.” Once he decided on a timeframe and recruited a few prospective members, Rothkrug needed a faculty sponsor. For him, former Science Department Chair Stephanie Barta was an obvious choice. “Her devotion to science education, in my opinion, was unparalleled,” he said. “She always inspired me as a learner. Her face lit up with excitement when I first told her about my idea, and she was instantly all-in.” Even with a promising goal and committed members to back it up, Rothkrug was met with a few difficulties in balancing the time, experience and capabilities the team shared. “As you might imagine, communication pitfalls, staffing, deadlines and funding all presented challenges to the process,” Rothkrug said. “I believed very strongly that it was
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important to create a special science publication for future Marksmen that would endure long after I graduated.” This year’s Scientific Marksman faculty sponsor Bonnie Flint notes how the publication has changed since its inception. She now realizes the value in letting the students develop it more individually. “There are not a lot of large, nonacademic projects at St. Mark’s that teachers can allow students to fail at,” Flint said. “For SciMark, if they don’t take on the responsibility, then we won’t publish the magazine. I will let that failure happen. I think it’s a low-risk, high-reward endeavor where students really get to experience that pressure and pride of making something happen in a team all on their own.” As for Rothkrug, he’s eager to see where Scientific Marksman goes. “If you told me in 2010 that the SciMark would go on to win multiple Columbia Gold Crown awards, I might not have agreed out loud, but I certainly believed that it would,” Rothkrug said. “I can’t wait to see what’s next.” STORY Han Zhang, Nikhil Dattatreya PHOTOS Courtesy Alex Rothkrug
Alex Rothkrug SciMark founder
